groundbait particle combinations

Hi all,

I'm interested to know what people do when feeding groundbait mixed with particles.

When fishing still waters i always take a variety of baits; corn, meat, maggots, worms & pellets etc. My plan is to alternate between baits to see which works best. Therefore i add a little of each particle to my groundbait mix and it ends up looking like a pick and mix. My initial thinking was that if the fish are up for a particular bait e.g sweetcorn, then the corn in the mix will hold them in the swim until i make the change to corn and start catching. It was only yesterday after a rubbish session with little action that i started to question doing this. Is it better to feed a hand feed identical hook bait samples over (plain) groundbait at the time i switch to a particular hookbait or introduce a little of each throughout the session in this sort of pick n mix fashion?

any advice will be appreciated.

many thanks

Daji

Hi Daji,

I think we all roll in different ways and it's often a case of making something work for you but it could just be that the fish were having an off day.

I tend to be much narrower in my number of baits and added free offerings but broad in what they will attract eg. chopped worm, caster etc. unless I'm targeting a particular species where i'll then use what is known to attract.

If the fish are being finicky try chopping the added particles right down in size so that the draw Is still there but it's much less likely to overfeed, you can also sieve your groundbait with a flour sieve prior to mixing to remove larger food particles and increase the chances of getting your hookbait nailed.

Daji....You don't say how you're fishing or what species you have in mind, but at this time of year as the water cools (in MY stillwaters anyway!) I'm tending to slow 'groundbaiting' right down.
From what you say you're adding loads of food particles to groundbait which to me is too much free food going in without really being sure of what the fish may, or may not, be feeding on.
Have you tried just using hook samples (in a PVA bag or on a stringer) to act as 'groundbait' initially, or even a small carpeted area of (say) a yard square with your bait sitting in the middle? Perhaps an hour with a specific bait over a bed is the way to go....(that's a question!). At least at the end of an hour you will know what bait they are NOT feeding on - either that or the fish where not feeding anyway !
What Binka is saying around attractors such as chopped or casters is spot on IMHO in that you're limiting the AMOUNT of food going in, and what is, are chosen particles to ATTRACT and NOT piles of different particles in amongst loads of 'groundbait' as well. I suppose what I'm saying is be more judicial around quantity and variety - at least to begin with !
I'm NOT saying don't use groundbait, but more to really limit it's use to begin with. This is said around the fact that I'm not one who arrives at the water and slings in half a dozen orange sized balls of groundbait (like some I watch) UNLESS I know for an absolute fact that it will catch me fish. Nothing will kill a swim quicker IMHO !!

So, I go back to my opening line; What are you after and how are you fishing, as this must have a bearing on your approach, and as many have said in the past, you cannot take it out once you've put it in.....

Also, at this time of year I might try fishing two rods on the lead and bait each area (some distance a part!) with different feed, BUT again this would NOT include 'groundbait' first off....In essence it's all trial and error, but proper thought as to why you're making certain decisions must help in the long run............

At the moment I'm carp fishing with large lumps of flavoured meat over a bed of same (lightly) flavoured hemp. I'm targeting two swims that are generally not fished by others with the second one used as a trial for home made paste(s) with samples in said PVA bag or on a stringer.
It's a plan of sorts that tells me from session to session what is still viable, what is going off, and IF my 'pastes' are okay or only fit for the bin !

Works reasonably well, BUT then only on my waters, so all I've said above cannot be taken as gospel, but more as one form of approach that may be worth a trial on your waters..............

My motto; Think before you chuck - groundbait or particles!!


Good luck!

ps This is only my opinion; others will have different ideas - okay?

pps Apologies for any 'grandmother sucking eggs' stuff !

ppps How about a diary which records what you are trying from session to session, how much you groundbaited, in what swims, with what amounts or particles etc etc. A sort of record of your overall plan, and more importantly what worked in what conditions.................................A better approach than 'chuck it and chance it' IMHO

The ground bait topic is such a wide church . . . . . . . .

When fishing a still water I am always fishing for a target species so that will dictate my baiting approach, be it loose feed or ground bait (and I will include spoodded mixes as ground bait)

If using ground bait then I typically use it not only to attract on its own but also as a carrier for my chosen hook bait, but rarely ever add more than one bait to the mix. So, if fishing corn then only corn goes into my ground bait, and usually chopped up a little with but a few whole grains included.

If using caster or worm then the casters get mixed into the ground bait, and so on and so forth.

If fishing luncheon meat then depending on the rules a sometimes run a little meat through a pinkie riddle and add that into my ground bait, but many venues now ban the use of meat as a feed.

If only loose feeding then I do alter this a little as I'll loose feed pellet while fishing corn, or loose feed hemp if fishing caster or tares, and loose feed pinkie if fishing maggot.

As i said at the beginning, baiting is such a wide church so there is on one solution fits all approach, that said, I really wouldn't fish so many different baits as noted in the OP.

Thanks for your input guys and thanks a lot Tee-Cee. you've made a number of points which i've taken on board so all that text is not in vain In retrospect i think my fishing brain is still in summer mode so i need to reign it in and reduce the feed. My target species for the last few weeks has been (to many peoples disgust) bream which i've had mixed success with using both feeder and waggler. I'm starting to see the value of these poorer sessions in the fact that if i constantly caught day in and day out there would be no need to experiment with different methods and bait. It's making me question things that i've always previously just assumed. I guess thats the path to improvement.

I'm not big on bream (!) but from what I've read they can mop up vast quantities of feed if you hit a shoal, particularly bigger fish. I've known bucket loads to go in for a match on the Thames (that's years ago) and I suppose the same would apply to a big pit with big fish....
As others have said, it all depends on the venue and if big bags of fish are caught regularly at this time of year so you'll just have to experiment with various mixtures. I have to say the caster/chopped worm sounds good as a starting point for loose feed...

Let us know how you fair...................( I shall keep an eye on the 'How did you get on?' thread for reports of large bags of bream - that should please Gerry !!!)


ps Just for the record I fished a Stillwater today (in a shallow swim as it's still warm) and whilst I caught a few fish, I had to sit a watch carp topping and swirling over my bait/loose feed for 2/3 hours without a touch. My bait was about 2' max below them...
I think it was pure chance I caught fish at all as TBH I don't think they were in the slightest bit interested in feeding. The water level was very, very low and the lake has that dead look so perhaps some rain might make a difference......A funny time of year, that's for sure!!